Call for kids in Scotland to be given right to healthy environment

August 2 this year marks Earth Overshoot Day, the date when humanity’s consumption of resources outstrips what the earth can reproduce within a year.

It comes just a few weeks after Scotland became the first country in the UK to incorporate the UN charter on children’s rights into law.

The UN Convention on the Rights of the Child Act requires public authorities in Scotland to protect children’s rights throughout all legislative decision-making.

However, the Environmental Rights Centre for Scotland (ERCS) say that while the act is welcomed, children need more than legal protection to ensure a prosperous future.

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They want the Scottish Government to enshrine the right to a healthy environment in the Human Rights Bill, which seeks to incorporate four UN treaties into Scots Law for the first time.

They are:

• the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights
•  the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women
• the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination
• the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities

However, the current bill also includes recognising the right to a healthy environment, which is yet to be enshrined in any form of international treaty.

“Earth Overshoot Day is an urgent reminder that we need to act now and decisively to tackle the planetary crisis,” said Dr Shivali Fifield, chief officer at ERCS.

“Enshrining the human right to a clean, healthy and sustainable environment in a Scottish Human Rights Bill would mean that, for the first time, our six substantive rights are protected: clean air, safe climate, safe water, healthy and sustainably produced food, non-toxic environments, and healthy ecosystems and biodiversity.”

Children’s anxieties about the ecological health of the planet came to the fore in 2019 when millions of kids across the globe began skipping classes on Friday in a bid for more ambitious and faster action from governments to tackle climate change.

Climate activist Greta Thunberg garnered global attention during youth climate strikes in 2019

The then 17-year-old Greta Thunberg became the poster child of the movement, visiting Scotland numerous times and rubbishing claims that Scotland was a “world leader” on dealing with the issue during COP26 in Glasgow.

“There are some countries that do a bit more than certain others, but then if we look at it from a broader perspective then I think we can safely say there are no countries - at least in the global north - that are even doing close to what would be needed,” she told the BBC.

The director of Together (Scottish Alliance for Children’s Rights), Juliet Harris, said living within the planet’s limits was a key aspect of providing a prosperous future for children.

“Whilst we recently celebrated children’s human rights being enshrined into law in Scotland, we cannot forget children's and young people's concerns for the environment and adults' lack of action,” she said.

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“The First Minister has spoken of his intention to deliver 'a revolution in children's rights', but this cannot be delivered without a healthy environment to live, study and play.

“Members of the Children's Parliament, Scottish Youth Parliament and the Human Rights Detectives are demanding us to do more to live within planetary limits.

“The introduction of a Human Rights Bill that includes the right to a healthy environment will be a significant step toward a fairer, healthier, and more sustainable future for all children and young people in Scotland.”

It comes after data from the EU’s Copernicus Climate Change Service suggested that July 21, 2024 was the hottest day ever recorded on earth.